Hal and Mab were beginning to understand the first simple rules of skating. It was not as easy as they had thought—nor was it the same as roller skating. The ice was so slippery.
"Oh, look at Roly!" cried Hal, when they had stopped for a rest. "He's skating, too."
A boy who had no skates had come down to the frozen pond, and, seeing the poodle dog, and knowing him to be Hal's pet, this boy wanted to have some fun. He would throw a stick on the ice, sliding it along, and Roly would race after it. He would go so fast, Roly would, that he could not stop when he reached the stick, and along he would slide, almost as if he were skating.
Just as Hal called to Mab to look, Roly cook a long run and a slide. Then, all of a sudden, there was a cracking sound in the ice. A hole seemed to open, close to where the poodle dog was, and, a moment later, Roly-Poly went down, out of sight, into the cold, black water.
"Poor Roly-Poly!" cried Mab. "He's drowned!"
Roly-Poly had gone under the ice. Hal and Mab were ready to cry. But listen. This is a secret. Roly-Poly was not drowned! A wonderful thing happened to him, but I can not tell you about it until the end of the book. And mind, you're not to turn over the pages to find out, either. That would not be fair. Just wait, and I'll tell you when the times comes.
CHAPTER VI
FISHING THROUGH THE ICE
"Come on, Mab," cried Hal, to his sister. "We've got to get him out!
We've got to save Roly-Poly!"
Letting go his father's hand, Hal started to skate toward the place where the little poodle dog had last been seen.